


Denial

by Erandri



Series: 365 Days of McDanno [7]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Arguing, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Steve and Danny get in a fight, Steve is still dealing with DADT, and Steve literally doesn't know how to deal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-14 18:00:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13013178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erandri/pseuds/Erandri
Summary: All it takes is a few seconds for Steve to jeopardize everything





	Denial

Steve wakes alone. Again. He sighs and rolls onto his back, staring up at the ceiling and hating how cold the other side of the bed feels. He had hoped when he went to bed the night before that maybe Danny would come around, that he had calmed down and Steve wouldn’t have to wake up to an empty bed. He should have never gotten his hopes up.

It’s all his fault. If he had just told everyone that they were dating like Danny had asked him to then he wouldn’t be left wondering if he still had a relationship to be worried about. Instead, he let his fear get the better of him and denied he was dating anyone right in front of Danny just so some random, flirty waitress wouldn’t know he was gay. He feels like punching himself for his own stupidity.

His phone rings before he can sink any further into his self-loathing and he crawls out of bed as Duke tells him about a new crew of drug smugglers that HPD just got wind of.

—

He leaves a bag of malasadas on Danny’s desk and waits for him to come in, watching out of the corner of his eye as Danny walks into his office and pushes the bag out of the way. At least he didn’t throw them away this time, so that’s progress.

“We got a case,“ he says, knocking quietly on Danny’s still open door.

“I’ll be right there,“ Danny tells him but he still won’t look at Steve.

“Danny-” he starts. He knows that he needs to say something, that he needs to at least try and apologize, but he can’t get the words out. He doesn’t know how to start to apologize for denying everything that they have together. In the end, he doesn’t get the chance because Danny cuts him off, brusquely saying “I’ll be out in a minute, Steven.”

—

It takes three long days but finally they track down their smugglers. He and Danny still haven’t talked about anything besides the case, but between the long nights running leads and the early mornings where Steve has nothing to do but realize how lonely he is without Danny, they haven’t had any time to themselves. He makes a promise to himself that as soon as this case is over he’s going to talk to Danny and do whatever it takes to make things right.

When they find their smugglers packing a new shipment of drugs on the docks he’s eager to start the takedown and finish this case. SWAT follows his lead, Danny still right by his side even though he still refuses to speak to him, and Steve’s barely through the door when the gunfire starts. He takes cover behind a forklift, seeing Danny and one of the SWAT guys dive behind a stack of crates. The rest of the SWAT team retreats and regroups outside the doorway, waiting for a lull in the shooting to try their entry again.

He shoots at the smugglers, giving the SWAT team enough cover fire to make their way into the warehouse. He’s forced to duck down when the smugglers reload and start shooting again, but he hears at least one guy go down and a couple others start running away. Chin, Kono, and Lou should be around the back, cutting off their only other exit to the building.

He’s reloading when he sees someone climbing up onto the gangway above the warehouse floor. The higher vantage would make them all sitting ducks and he’s moving on instinct, climbing up the ladder after the guy and praying that he doesn’t get shot in the process. As soon as his feet hit the walkway he’s running, bringing the guy down in a full body tackle before he can get a shot off. The guy struggles and manages to hit him in the face with the butt of his gun, more by luck than actual intent, but he’s no match for Steve’s training and the resulting fight is quick and easy.

He disables the gun and zip ties the guy to one of the railings before making his way back down the ladder. He has to wipe blood out of his eyes on the way down, the hit may have been a lucky shot but it still did some damage, and no sooner have his feet touched the ground than Danny’s in front of him.

“Come on,“ Danny growls at him, grabbing him by the arm in a bruising grip and dragging him out of the building. There’s a couple of ambulances waiting just outside and Danny forces him to sit on one of the bumpers, ordering him to stay. A few seconds later, he returns with a wet towel and a bandage and starts wiping away the blood from his face.

Steve’s not sure how he manages, but somehow Danny gets his wound cleaned up and covered without ever actually looking at him. It’s killing him that this is the most intimate Danny’s been with him for almost two weeks. “Danny,“ he whispers, not caring how desperate he sounds. He’s tired, he aches, and he just wants Danny to talk to him.

He reaches out, grabbing Danny around the waist and pulling him closer. Danny stiffens, but he doesn’t resist so Steve keeps pulling him close until he can wrap his arms around Danny’s waist and press his forehead into Danny’s bulletproof vest, just above his heart.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, his voice cracking, and he surprises himself with how broken he sounds.

“People will see,“ he hears Danny says coldly like he’s daring Steve to pull away.

“I don’t care,” he admits and is surprised to find that it’s the truth. What does it matter what people think about him when the only person whose opinion he cares about is Danny’s? He was so stupid to fall into those old habits of constantly denying who he was. Now, seeing the consequences of that, seeing how alone he is without Danny in his life, in his home, he can’t bear to lie any longer. He’ll shout it from the rooftops if he has to, anything to make Danny happy again.

He dares to look up and sees Danny staring down at him softly, his blue eyes full of relief. There’s a smile starting to pull at the corner of Danny’s mouth and Steve can feel the tension leave Danny’s body as he accepts Steve’s words as the truth. Danny’s so close that Steve can see the faint freckles spattered just under his eyes and he can’t resist. He reaches up and pulls Danny into a kiss, right there in front of the team, SWAT, HPD and their perps and for the first time he doesn’t give a second thought to what their reactions will be.

“You still have a lot of making up to do,” Danny says, breaking the kiss but not bothering to move away.

“I look forward to it,” Steve says and kisses Danny again.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on [Tumblr](http://erandri.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
